1. Technical Field
This invention relates to seat assemblies for water vessels and, more particularly, to an adjustable fisherman seat assembly for use on a water vessel.
2. Prior Art
There are a number of commercially available swiveled boat seats. Conventionally, the swivel comprises a number of ball bearings suitably and rotatably resting in suitable races or recesses between adjoining disks. One of the disks is normally coupled to the boat seat and the other secured in some fashion to the boat deck, either directly or through a support post or pillar, so that the user can swing the seat around as he or she desires. There are also a number of commercially available slides for boat seats. Although there are known boat seats that are both swivable and slidably adjustable, in general it has been found that these combined swivel-slide boat seats do not operate reliably under the conditions encountered aboard a boat. Oftentimes the swivel cannot stand up to the forces brought to bear on it when the seat is slidably adjusted to various positions. After a while the swivel mechanism will often break or jam up and not operate smoothly. Also, the environmental conditions under which a boat seat is used oftentimes is not compatible with continuous smooth and reliable operation of a conventional ball bearing swivel mechanism, and more so when used in conjunction with a slide adjustment.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,082,328 to Garelick teaches a swivel-slide seat comprised of a pair of metal plates that sandwich a spacer made of low-friction material and a relatively large diameter circular opening that passes through the three members which are held rotatably together by a flared ring or bushing or collar along the edge of the opening. One of the plates is mounted to the floor and a seat is coupled to the other plate. The seat may be attached to a slide carriage comprising one of the aforementioned swivel plates and another rectangular plate. Each plate has tracks and rails along parallel outer edges which slidably mate with respectively corresponding rails and tracks on the other plate. Unfortunately, this prior art example includes swivel plates which allow the seat to swivel, thereby requiring a fisherman to maneuver about the waist in a physically demanding manner.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,718,365 to Gibson teaches a seat attachment for boats which includes a rectangular, tubular main frame having clamp means for detachably securing the frame to the sides of the boat. A subframe carrying a seat is sleevedly engaged with opposed sides of the tubular main frame to permit sliding adjustment of the sub-frame longitudinally of the main frame. Unfortunately, this prior art example cannot be adjusted in angular positioning, plus or minus 20 degrees from horizontal, to suit the preference of the occupant.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,113,804 to Ritter teaches a sliding swivel seat for boats which can be secured to thwarts of varying sizes of boats. The seat is provided with a frame and clamps which adapt it to being secured to the thwart, and the frame is further provided with tracks which receive a wheeled carriage supporting the seat. Through this structure, the seat can slide along the tracks and, through a pivotal connection between the seat and the carriage, swiveling of the seat is provided. Unfortunately, this prior art example includes a pivotal connection that requires a user to control the seat using the waist and thereby demanding excessive physical exertion.
Accordingly, the adjustable fisherman seat assembly is disclosed to overcome the above noted shortcomings. The present invention satisfies such a need by providing an assembly that is convenient and easy to use, lightweight yet durable in design, and ideal for use on a water vessel. The maneuverability of the adjustable fisherman seat assembly and the ability to slide the chair toward the stern or the bow of a boat would make it possible for a fisherman to play a fish without excessive maneuvering about the waist, making the task of landing a fish much less physically demanding and tiring. This, in turn, would make the enjoyable activity of sport fishing even more pleasurable and satisfying. The present invention is simple to use, inexpensive, and designed for many years of repeated use.